1st clipless ride tomorrow..

[TerraNik]

When I first bought my clipless pedals (they're eggbeaters - Crank Bros Candy), I had similar problems - took me about 5 minutes every single time to get my foot into the right position. To overcome that in the short term, I got clipped in, and just noted where my shoe lined up and found a landmark to match with the pedal. That worked quite well. Since then, now that I've been using the pedals every day, the spring in them has loosened, and I guess I have also gotten used to where I have to put my foot in to clip in. I now don't even have to look at my feet, and they just clip in with a bit of a wiggle!

So don't lose hope! When I got mine I thought I would NEVER be able to do it, but you will! Just practice!

[mimitabby]

good grief, you guys are not helping. I am NEVER going to learn this!
yes, i promise i will try on a stationary bike this winter.

[littlegrasshopp]

just curious - I'm using spd's right now. I'm very lucky to have a fiance with quite the pedal collection....one of the guys on the group ride got after him for not letting me use his "times." He'd loaned them out. The group seemed to feel strongly that I needed to be using those instead. Any advantage to the times over spd's ? I seem to be clipping out just fine.

[NJBikeGal]

Hey Grasshopper,

I have Time Attacks on my mountain and I LOVE them! They are self-cleaning when you clip in, so even if your shoe is FULL of mud, you can still clip into your pedal...GREAT FEATURE! In reality, I've never used SPDs so I can't say that I can compare them, but I would fully back Times. Plus, they are a nice sized platform, which helps me!

[littlegrasshopp]

I think I might ask if he can "borrow" them back from his friend for a week or so and let me see if they are easier to "find" for my foot. I'm still going to work with the SPD's though I want to be clipless before we got to TSALI in two weeks !! 4 days of biking in the smokies! I know that's nothing you guys in the bigger mountains but it's a huge mountain bike area around a beautiful lake and I'm so excited about going!!! Camping and riding for 4 days! WEEEEE!

[bouncybouncy]

I have SPDs but if I had the choice I would have Times...the advantages of the mud factor alone!

I do LOVE my SPDs tho...they are easy! great learner pedals! and not too tight if I do want them to be! I will have them for awhile because I am not very hard on my equipment (even tho I am on the same trails as hubby and doing the same drops/puddles/climbs/rock gardens) he seems to just be harder on his stuff...weight is a factor I think. I have had them for over 2 years and "aquired" a pair for my commuter...not to mention the # of cleats I have Anyway, because I am using them on 2 bikes with same shoes upgrades are more $$$, when I do switch/upgrade I will DEFINITELY get the TimeAtaks!!! SOOOOO, at this point if I knew what to ask for I would have said Times...hind-sight, but good fore-sight for others

[SalsaMTB]

I had a really hard time clipping in with my original pedals, Shimano 515s. They were terrible. I switched over to Times and all my problems were solved! I highly recommend Times!!